Apple SVP of Technologies Bob Mansfield Cashes in Over $20 Million in Stock

Apple Senior Vice President of Technologies Bob Mansfield has decided to sell off a set of stock for over $20 million, according to a regulatory filing. Mansfield sold off 35,000 shares of his Apple stock at a price of $582.21 per share.

The move comes nine months after Mansfield sold 30,000 shares of stock for a gain of $12.5 million in early February, with Apple shares netting an average of $452.28 at the time. Since then, Mansfield has retired, taken an advisory role, and then recently un-retired to take charge of a new "Technologies" group in an executive reshuffling that saw iOS chief Scott Forstall ousted.

Mansfield's stock sale does not mean that he is looking to exit his ownership in Apple, as he has regularly cashed in on stock options and is an active participant in Apple's stock option and grant award programs for senior executives. Mansfield still has 29,548 shares of Apple stock and stands to gain an additional 150,000 shares in two equal portions June 2013 and March 2016. He also holds a restricted stock grant that could earn him another 100,000 shares in 2014. All of those shares, which would net him $145.5 million at current stock prices, would only be awarded to him if he remained with Apple.

Mansfield and other executives may also be looking to unload stock as 2012 draws to a close due to a scheduled increase in capital gains taxes for 2013. By selling stock now rather than holding it into 2013, sellers can reduce their tax burden, although fluctuations in the company's stock price over time could more than compensate for the higher tax rate should Apple's stock continue to rise.

When someone like Bob Mansfield thinks the stock is worth more now as cash, than as stock in the future.......

He's one of the executives at Apple that cashes out regularly. This isn't a sign of anything to come. It isn't a sign that the stock is going to plunge in the near future, or that the stock is worth its current cash value. All it's a sign of is that he's rich already, and has different priorities.

He's got more stock coming his way, and it's rather stupid to have all your money in one company. Call it diversification, call it risk management, whatever. When you're as rich as he is, your priorities change a bit. It's not about making more money at any cost, he's got plenty of that already. It's about ensuring your great-grandkids have security. It's about minimizing risk entirely. Sure, he could make more money staying invested in Apple, and I'm sure he knows this better than anyone posting here, but he's got more money than he could ever reasonably spend, anyway. Might as well diversify in very safe, stable investments, and live off the interest in the event a million-to-one disaster occurs.

I would hardly call the post he was replying to a "logical conservative viewpoint". Leading with sarcasm (by his own admission) is rarely ever a great way to be taken seriously. Your failure to recognize that just comes across as being angry and defeated, not rational. That being said, I have trouble understanding who would expect to be taken seriously when they are using technology forums as a place to espouse their political beliefs? Surely there are more appropriate places to find an educated debate if that's what you are after. No?

Take a look in the political section of MR boards for de-railed liberals who live there 24/7.

Selling to avoid a tax increase is basically making a bet that Apple stock isn't going to go up more than 5%, which seems like a bad bet to me, but everyone has the right to decide that for themselves. It's probably even less than that because you're only paying the capital gains tax on your profits, not on the entire value of the stock. Although in Mansfield's situation, it does make some sense, he'll make a gigantic profit that will set his family up for generations, and he still has stock left with a lot more incoming soon. Might as well assure your security and not get greedy with that setup.

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